Sharks Torpedo Admirals in First of Three Skirmishes

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The first of three "Local Derbys" between local rivals the Cornish Sharks and the Plymouth Admirals, ended in a devastating defeat for the home team playing at Albion's training ground on Sunday 3 May.  The Sharks continued their so far "undefeated" record against the Plymouth Admirals with an impressive score of 0-72.

The first of the touchdowns for the Sharks came within five plays of the first drive, within only a couple of minutes of the start of the game and the Sharks never let up the pressure for the full four quarters.

Running Back Andy Dixon (sponsored by Newquay Arms), who was MVP in the first game of the season opened the scoreline with a fantastic run following the impressive blocks by the offensive linemen.

The score was steadily built up for the first half to 0-37 with further touch-downs by receivers Dave Krierhn and Lee Ambridge plus Running Backs Ian Taylor, Kiell Micallef and Rob McIntyre.  The second half saw further touch-downs by Kiell, Andy (sponsored by Newquay Arms) and Rob.  Dave Krierhn kicked 4 out of 7 extra points after TD and Travis Rogers caught one 2 point conversion and ran it in for a score.   Total touchdowns Lee Ambridge (1), Ian Taylor (1), David Krierhn (1), Andy Dixon (2 - sponsored by Newquay Arms), Rob McIntyre (2), Kiell Micallef (4).  The team lost out on five further touch-downs that were called back due to flags on the play, Andy Dixon (3), Rob McIntyre & Kiel Micallef (1 each).

Sunday also saw another outstanding display from the Killer Sharks Defense whose determination to keep our opponents to a nil score was matched only by their domination of the Admiral's offense on the day.  Pressure from the defensive line including Ashley Cotton, Ross Hamer and Lewis Bowns all did a good job up front.  The linebackers looked sharp and were quick to snub out any runs that the Admirals put together including new player to the team Adam Wright (Plymouth Blitz University).  Secondary looked pretty solid also with the addition of Alan Shears (also playing his first game for the Sharks) at Strong Safety, Michael Bearman (Plymough Blitz University) and new Coach to the team George Sawicki - all made a real difference to the coverages the team could call.  It was also good to see James Ratcliffe back in the fold after illness.  All credit goes to Assistant Head Coach and Defensive Co-ordinate Levi Gustafson for a well run and well disciplined defensive unit.

Special mention should go to receivers Lee Ambridge and David Krierhn who today made some top class catches in traffic for scores.  Also, some great blocking by Travis Rogers, Paul Mallen, Chris Gardener and Dan McCann (Plymouth Blitz University - playing only his second game for the Sharks.)  Ceawlin Hickman, Matthew Cross (sponsored by Truseli, Newquay based caterers), Alex Bonner and Alan "Spike" Bray all made impressive interceptions giving the impetus back to the Sharks.  Fumbles recovered by Matt Lockwood, Ash Cotton, rookie Richard Cawley and Matthew Cross (sponsored by Truseli) also gave the drive back to the Sharks and sacks by Ash Cotton, Ross Hamer, Ceawlin Hickman and Levi Gustafson disrupted the Admirals offense.

Head Coach Smallworth said of the high scoreline "This is a record score for the Cornish Sharks and a well deserved result for all the hard work the Coaching Staff and players are carrying out week in and week out.  Over the winter we rebuilt many of the areas that needed strengthening starting with the offensive line.  We signed "Big Bad" Barry Driver from Leicester who played for me years ago and at the highest level for GB for 10 years;  Mark Robinson who played GB Spartans in Europe; Lydon Ward-Best and James Burt previously at Oxford are both Plymouth Blitz University players as is Thomas Crabb.  In addition to the linemen we had last year, who did a solid job, we have built one of the better units I as a HC have had for many years.  Coach Nigel Hoyte is doing a brilliant job coaching the offensive and defensive lines and bringing cohesion and understanding to blocking schemes.

"The RBs was another area which we had to strengthen due to a major accident which seriously injured RB Reggie Jackson, a major blow to the team as he had been a consistent player for the past 2 seasons and a great inspiration to all the youngsters.  He is now still recovering from his injuries but continued to be an inspiration to the RBs from the sidelines and gave them a motivating speech before the game and it was great for all the team to have him there supporting us.  We signed Kiell Micaleff (Plymouth Blitz University QB), nicknamed Predator - a name well deserved with his 4 touchdowns yesterday plus rookie Rob McIntyre (Newquay Hornets Rugby) who scored two touch downs (with two called back) despite it being his first game.  Added strength was a fit Ian Taylor and Jonathon Hall playing only his second game as Fullback.  We now have a good balanced back field which strength and blistering speed.

"I am so proud of the rookie players who played on Sunday in their first ever game - these are young players to watch for the future - Rob McIntyre (mentioned above), Richard Cawley (Cornish Wrestling Champion) had an outstanding game, a good little physical player; Ashley Key made a couple of key tackles in his first game and Damian "Jack" Daniels gave a great display after recovering from a recent illness which meant he missed the first game.

"I am also very proud of the coaching staff for implementing and executing the game plan that we devised for this game, which being against our local rivals is always intense.  There was a good crowd, a sunny although windy day and it was nice not to travel too far.  We know as a team we still have a long way to go to reach our goals."

Ends

For further information or electronic/hard copies of photographs, please contact Sharon Smallworth, Marketing & Fundraising on 07789484817 or email mrscoach@innisrhia.eclipse.co.uk or Brian Smallworth, Head Coach on 07786370980 or email bjscoach@yahoo.com.